Founders

Sharon Watkins and Brent Pickerl

In 2004, Sharon and Brent joined forces to create SANDSTONE – a boutique wealth management company that provides personal service to individuals, families and foundations. An investment firm that provides Direction, Confidence, and Independence to every client relationship.

Right from the start, Brent and Sharon committed to use all the research tools available to discover investment opportunities. But they don’t stop there. SANDSTONE is about filtering those opportunities though both philosophical and strategic lenses – including environmental, social and governance criteria – to find the right opportunities for clients.

Since then, SANDSTONE has grown in both size and influence. Today, SANDSTONE is known for its consistent, professional approach to wealth management as well as it’s commitment to community.

The story behind the name SANDSTONE

After the railway arrived in Calgary in 1883, there was a building boom but nearly all the newly built structures were built of wood. On Nov. 7, 1886, a fire started in the rear of the flour and feed store. It quickly spread and destroyed 14 buildings in a single day.

This great fire propelled Calgary’s transition to building with more permanent and fire-resistant materials. As sandstone was readily available along the banks of the Bow and Elbow Rivers – it became the building material of choice.

In the heyday of its use between 1886 and 1915, Calgary boasted over a dozen Paskapoo sandstone quarries within today’s city limits and hundreds of buildings that used sandstone in their construction.

By 1910 Calgary became known as the ‘Sandstone City’. Today, sandstone is a key part of many heritage buildings, including the under-construction 109-year-old City Hall.

Meet the team

“Calgary is almost a model town. The hills surrounding it are underlaid with a very superior quality of sandstone, easily worked, and which hardens when exposed to the air. This stone is being largely utilized in building up the town, and Calgary will doubtless yet be called THE SANDSTONE CITY.”